Do you ever feel like your pants have gotten too tight… just after you get up from eating? Holidays come and go, but weight gain sticks around a a lot longer. Why is that? And how did we get so inflamed as a society?
Does this describe you around the holidays? “I tried so hard to be good, but that kolachi had my name on it!”
This past Thanksgiving, and Christmas as hard as I tried to be good, I just had to taste the Kolachi and Apple pie, the stuffing.
What’s your favorite dessert during the holidays?
My homemade pie was loaded with sugar(even though I used mostly brown rice syrup), the crust had flour ( gluten), and don’t forget the whipped cream on top (dairy)….the 3 top contributors to inflammation in our body.
I tried to make gluten-free pie crusts, epic fail, they weren’t perfect, not even close and didn’t look as pretty as the others.
It’s a work in progress.
We all know inflammation on the outside of the body as redness and swelling. It’s our body’s healing response to injury or infection. Which is a good thing
But when inflammation happens on the inside… and becomes a chronic condition, not only can we not see it, but the increasing damage over time leads to illness and disease.
Inflammatory conditions caused by an imbalanced diet can be reversed.
One theory around this bloating sensation is a food intolerance.
Did you notice how gluten and dairy sensitivities are becoming more mainstream?
The offending items disturb the gut flora in our intestines leading to an big imbalance, which either quickly or over the span of years… leads to bloating and chronic inflammation.And when you have pain and inflammation already the two together plus the processed junk makes it even worse.
We can begin to reduce these conditions by consuming a clean, anti-inflammatory diet, exercising, and reducing stress in our lives. If we consume every color of the rainbow in REAL food, every day, we are very close to getting all the nutrients our bodies need.
I know my bones have been screaming and I noticed this flare up about 20 hours after I ate things that would create inflammation
Remember to consume healthy fats for proper absorption of nutrients into your cells. Good fats include wild-caught fish, coconut oil, avocados, and flax seed oil.
Eat lots of greens, try including kale and collard greens.
Reduce or minimize alcohol, gluten, dairy, sugar, sugar substitutes, caffeine, processed foods, fast foods, chemical-laden foods, and preservatives. And lay off so much meat.
For recipe idea’s scope out my blog and stay tuned as more will be coming SOON.
So back on track to
Making smarter food choices
Add healthier foods to your diet gradually. You can try something new every day, week or month. Whatever works for you. Before you know it, you eat a large amount of your diet raw.
I’m going right back to 70/30 raw
It’s only been a few times I ate like crap, and my body really can feel the difference
**Tips on starting to add more raw into your daily life
1. This style is popular for a couple of reasons: 1) it’s easy for people with a family that doesn’t eat raw and/or 2) some people simply don’t want to eat all-raw but want to have a strategy for eating “more” raw. It works exactly as it reads: you eat raw food until dinner. Then, for dinner, the recommendation is that you still eat about 50% raw, if possible, and make the other half of your meal cooked, vegan foods. Let me give you an example of what this could look like. Breakfast: lots of fresh fruit, green smoothie, green juice, or raw granola with raw nut milk. Snack 1: raw almonds, seeds, dried fruit, and/or fresh fruit. Lunch: large salad, raw soup, raw veggies, raw cheese dip or raw hummus, raw crackers, or go fancy with a raw lasagna or quiche! Snack 2: raw snack bar. Dinner: the easiest way to get a healthy dose of raw foods with dinner is by making a salad to accompany the other/cooked food, which could include a vegan burrito, lentils, beans, rice, tofu, cooked veggies, etc.
the only way to start the raw diet is by jumping in with both feet and going 100%. Although this wasn’t the right path for me, it has worked well for some people I know. The people who tend to prefer this path are often at a point in life where they are ready for big change! Maybe it’s an illness that triggers the desire.
Maybe it’s wanting to jump-start a weight loss plan. Maybe it’s just being fed up with not feeling the best and being ready for immediate change.
Or, maybe it’s just that the person has an all or nothing personality. Whatever the reason, this path can be tricky but not impossible! If you have the will, excitement, and you’re prepared, then you can succeed with flying colors. How can you get prepared?
My recommendation is that you get raw food books, read some raw food blogs, and understand what to expect with a raw food diet. Research local restaurants for options. Prepare your family if needed.
Figure out where you’ll get your produce and what appliances you’ll need. And, get lots of great recipes.
From there, you might start with simple raw foods so you don’t spend tons of time in the kitchen, unless of course you want to. Let your body get into the groove of raw food. Then, you can dabble with some more complicated recipes and enjoy the Fast Track to Raw.
Whichever way you decide to start with raw food, here are my take-home points:
* Listen to your body and follow its lead. If you’re tired, rest. If you’re not excited about certain foods, then don’t force them. Find the raw foods that you love to eat and go from there. Your taste buds and preferences will change over time. Promise!
* Remain flexible and don’t stress. There are five ways outlined above that can be used in moving to a raw diet. If one doesn’t jive with you, try another.
* Surround yourself with raw.
*
* One of the best ways for staying motivated is with community and education. The community can be found online (raw forums, raw food blogs, and blog yourself!) and through meetups (check meetup.com for local groups). You can get a raw food coach as well, and more education can be found with a visit to the library get some DVDs, classes, magazines, etc. I’m constantly putting all of those things in front of me.
Here’s a few websites I used to help me get started.
Now I’m not 100 percent raw or vegan I do like meat or fish a few times a month.
I also drink nettle tea it also helps joint pain.
It helps relieve the pain in sore joints because it contains active compounds that reduce inflammatory cytokines. Cytokines, such as the strangely named TNF-α and IL-1B, are messengers between cells, and cause inflammation due to an immune response.
http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/starting-a-raw-food-diet.html
http://rawschool.com/raw-food-basics/
Remember always check with your Doctor before trying any new way of eating. And always check to make sure certain foods don’t interfere with your medication
Please leave a comment if you would like to share your story about pain & inflammation.
And you also have a blog feel free to post your link
Chronically Grateful Me by Deb Andio 
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